


roadtrip epiphany

by eanard



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, and the dreamies of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27034885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eanard/pseuds/eanard
Summary: Jeno's whipped, and now he finally realizes it.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 3
Kudos: 82





	roadtrip epiphany

It only comes to his attention because Renjun points it out.

"You always defend him or take his side on arguments, you know?

No. Jeno didn't know.

\---

After that, he can't stop thinking about it, and noticing it.

\---

That Friday they go to Jaemin's beach house. It's sunny and Jeno loves the feeling of swimming in the sea. They're about to head there when Donghyuck whines.

"Let's just go to the pool guys. Please. I hate the sand"

Renjun and Jaemin groan. Chenle mutters _why did you come to the beach then, there's sand everywhere_ and Mark pays Jisung 10 bucks, apparently having lost a bet.

Jeno just says "okay".

Donghyuck beams at him, hugging him and calling him a true friend while sticking his tongue out and mocking the others. Jeno just laughs.

They go to the pool alone, and it's only when they're already inside it and the other boy is relentlessly splashing water in his face that he notices.

He loves the sea. But he's in a pool.

The realization is enough to make him space out a little, enough time for Donghyuck to gain the advantage and spit some pool water onto his face.

Instantly, Jeno's epiphany is broken, and replacing it, there's now rage.

Donghyuck swims away from him before he can catch him, laughter in his eyes. Jeno follows him, brows furrowed but a smile on his lips.

\---

They're deciding what to order for dinner. Renjun, Jisung and Mark want sushi, while Jaemin, Donghyuck and Chenle want cheese pizza.

They all turn around to look at him, expecting him to take a side. Before he even opens his mouth, Jaemin and Chenle high five and throw themselves into the couch, victorious. In contrast, Renjun sighs and goes to call the pizza place. Everyone else sctters, Jisung sitting next to Chenle and turning on his phone, Mark going to the bathroom.

Jeno ends up with Donghyuck in the kitchen.

"What did you want to eat?" the boy asks, curiosity evident in the way he tilts his head.

A blush rushes to his ears and he clears his throat. 

"Pizza. I wanted Pizza"

Donghyck smiles and throws an arm around his shoulders "You have great taste Jeno-ah"

\---

They're in the middle of eating pizza when they decide to watch Netflix, and that evolves into a fierce debate about what movie to watch.

Donghyuck's option is losing, only him advocating for a romantic movie, _The Notebook_ no less, against the overwhelming five who want to watch Mad Max. They live in a democracy, so they decide to do a counting, raising their hands to vote.

"Okay, so, if you want to watch The Notebook, raise your hand!" Jaemin shouts. Donghyuck immediately raises his hand up in the air.

Jeno doesn't want to watch a romantic movie. Most of the time, they make him cry, which is embarrassing for a twenty year old. He already decided to vote for Mad Max, but somehow, he blinks and the next thing he knows, his hand is raised.

Donghyuck eyes shine and he throws Jeno a kiss across the room. Jeno almost drops his slice of pizza. 

Jaemin and Renjun try to hold their laughter in.

\---

The next day they're returning to Seoul, and it's during the trip back that Jeno truly and fully understands that he's screwed. 

Donghyuck has his head resting on his shoulder, hair soft and snores somehow endearing. The sun coming from the window shines on his face, making his little specks of freckles visible. 

Jeno wants to throw himself out the window of the car. He doesn't, of course. Instead, he raises a hand to Donghyuck's hair and pets him, sighing in defeat.

"You're fucking whipped, man" Jaemin says from the front of the minivan, watching Jeno from the rear-view mirror.

Jeno throws his head back against the seat, still caressing Donghyuck's head. "I know"

He hears Renjun snort and he would try slapping him, but he's the one driving the car and Jeno doesn't want to die. Also, because doing so would mean moving, and moving would mean that Donghyuck would wake up. And now that Jeno finally realizes his feelings, he doesn't want the other boy to lift his head from his shoulder. Not now (or maybe ever).

"Hey. On the positive side, at least it seems like Donghyuck is oblivious to your behaviour" Renjun notes.

"His simp behaviour" Chenle adds helpfully from the back of the minivan, apparently now awake and also invested in ruining Jeno's life.

Jeno's about to reply when Donghyuck shifts closer to him and his brain short circuits. His face is now against Jeno's neck, and Jeno can feel the little puffs of air coming out from his nose.

It's not dignified, but he's sure a little choke escapes from his throat.

This time, Renjun and Jaemin don't bother to cover their laughs. Jaemin is bending over his knees in the passenger's seat, trying to control his heaves of laughter. Renjun isn't better, bringing a hand to clear the tears from his eyes while the other stays on the steering wheel. At least Chenle doesn't laugh, although he can hear (yes, hear) the astonishment from the back.

Jeno doesn't get to defend himself because suddenly Donghyuck wakes up, eyes fluttering open and yes, Jeno wants to die.

In a panic, he shoves Donghyuck away, and hopes his ears aren't as red as they feel. That only serves to make Renjun laugh even louder now.

Donghyuck looks around confused while yawning "What's going on? Did Mark Fart?"

At this, Chenle does laugh. 

Mark, who had been awake but had decided to ignore the whole issue, takes his earbuds off at the mention of his name.

"Yes, he farted a big one" Chenle says, glee in his voice.

"Eww. Gross." Donghyuck replies, scrunching up his nose in disgust. "I think I can still smell it"

"Hey! What- I did not fart!" Mark shouts, pointing an accusing finger at Chenle, who sticks his tongue out. Mark tries to grab him without waking up Jisung, who's in the middle between them and is miraculously still asleep.

Donghyuck laughs "Okay, sure, whatever you say" 

"I really didn't! I don't even know what happened." He defends himself, now looking at Donghyuck instead of trying to murder Chenle. Jisung is still asleep and Jaemin is still laughing. Renjun hasn't crashed yet, somehow. 

Jeno stays quiet, hoping to come out of the situation unscathed. But, the universe has other plans for him.

Mark's gaze shifts from Donghyuck to him, and Jeno can feel a premonition coming.

"It was something about Jeno being a simp-"

Jeno jumps out of his seat, unfastening his seatbelt in record time, and turns around to put a hand over Mark's mouth, muffling the boy's end of the sentence.

Donghyuck, fully awake now, opens his eyes in interest. "What was that? Jeno being a simp?"

Jeno can feel his whole face burn now. He opens his mouth but all he can do is stutter. 

"Is it about that twitch streamer who goes to our university, y'know the pretty one with a mole under her eye?" Donghyuck asks, wiggling his eyebrows "Because if so, I think she likes you back, Jeno-ah. She's always borrowing your notes from class"

Jeno nods. Anything to save his skin. "Yes, uh, Yes. I like. I like her. Erin"

"You mean Yerim" Jaemin corrects him. Jeno shoots him the stink eye. 

"Yes. Yerim"

After that he releases Mark's mouth and sits back down on his seat. He closes his eyes in the hope that he won't have to explain himself. "Now if you all are done teasing me. I'd like to get a nap before we reach the city"

Everyone else grows quiet, and Jeno finally can feel relaxed again. Danger averted. 

\---

They reach the city and Renjun drops Donghyuck off in Jeno's house. Jeno doesn't complain. He knows Donghyck's parents work until late.

"I can't believe I lost my keys. I'm sorry for intruding, Jeno-ah"

Jeno shrugs as he sits and unties his shoes at the entrance. "I don't mind"

Donghyuck sits next to him and bumps his shoulder. "You're a great guy. If it weren't for you I would have had to beg Mark to let me stay with him, which we both know would have ended with us arguing over petty things"

Jeno hums in agreement, suddenly tired. _You're a great guy_.

\---

Somehow, even though he's tired, Donghyuck convinces him to play video games. They're killing zombies, the only sound coming from the screen, when Donghyuck talks.

"You should ask her out. She'd be lucky to have you as her boyfriend, you're the kindest person I know" he can hear Donghyuck's voice say next to him. A zombie almost kills his character but Jeno shoots it before it reaches him.

Something bitter rises up his throat. Something bitter and rotten, and his heart clenches unpleasantly. He presses the buttons on his controller harder than before.

"And I mean, you would make a really cute couple. What with her being beautiful and you being handsome" Donghyuck comments, absentmindedly and nonchalant. "You could even become an influencer couple-"

Jeno pauses the game, setting the PS controller on the table in front of them. He can feel something break inside of him. Maybe his patience.

"I don't like her" 

Donghyuck seems taken aback, and he also puts his controller down. "Uh?"

"I like someone else" Jeno stands up from the couch and heads down the hallway "I'm going to shower"

He leaves Donghyuck alone.

\---

When he comes out of the shower, his mom tells him Donghyuck's parents came to pick him up. Sure enough, in his room there's a note stuck to his bedside table.

"I have to go. Be sure to tell me who is the lucky girl ;)"

Jeno throws himself in his bed and smothers himself with his pillow.

\---

He avoids Donghyuck that week, which should be impossible because they have two classes together, but somehow he finds a way by arriving late to class and sitting close to the entrance.

He knows Donghyuck notices. It's pretty obvious that he's avoiding him. But Jeno doesn't feel ready to talk to him again, not after what happened during the weekend and his huge big realization that he _likes_ Donghyuck.

He's having lunch at the canteen on the other side of university, the one he knows Donghyuck hates because of the uncomfortable chairs and the nasty desserts, when he’s confronted.

Surprisingly, it's Mark who comes to find him. The older boy flicks his forehead and Jeno groans.

"What was that for?" Jeno complains, trying to pretend he doesn't know why Mark is there.

"You know why" Mark sighs and sits down in front of him. Resting his head on his hands. "He's really sad dude"

Jeno wants to keep pretending, but he can't. That's exactly the reason why he's avoiding Donghyuck, because he sucks at pretending.

"I can't face him yet. Not before I calm down a little bit. You know I can't lie" Jeno admits, defeated.

Mark looks at him, confused "Why would you have to lie to him? Just tell him you like him"

Jeno shakes his head "He doesn't like me that way."

Mark's brows furrow even further "How did you even get to that conclusion?"

Jeno shrugs. "He doesn't seem interested in me in that way."

Mark looks at him like he's an alien. Then he opens his eyes in bewilderment. "I can't believe it. You're even more oblivious than him."

Now, Jeno's confused. "What?"

Mark laughs, patting Jeno's shoulder in pity. 

"We all know you're whipped for him. But the same goes for him, you know?" Mark takes out his phone and opens up a chat "Chenle and Jaemin own me ten bucks each"

"Uh?"

After he's done texting, he looks up at Jeno and continues.

"He's always touching you, way more than anyone else. He always asks you how you're feeling, he always teases you, listens to you, declares how great you are, should I keep going?"

"But he touches everyone" he tries, half-heartedly.

"True, but in comparison to us, he sticks onto you like a leech."

Jeno feels his body warm up. 

\---

He can't wait. It's late but he knows Donghyuck has a class that ends at 8pm. So he waits.

After an hour, the door from the class opens, and students come out. Jeno waits, nervously, until he finally sees the mop of brown hair that he's searching for. He's talking with a friend, laughing and covering it up with one of his hands. Jeno feels like he might melt at the sight. However, the simile dies when Donghyuck notices him. Jeno feels guilty.

The boy says goodbye to his friend and walks up to him.

"Hi" Donghyuck says, looking at the ground and not at his eyes. Jeno hates it.

"I'm sorry." he blurts out, not being able to hold it any longer "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. It's just that recently I've had a revelation."

Donghyuck seems to relax a little, and he even dares to look at Jeno in the eyes now. "Don't worry. It's fine. It was my fault for being noisy about the girl you like"

Jeno shakes his head. "It's not your fault. Also-" he pauses, suddenly scared, until he remembers Mark's words. _He sticks onto you like a leech_. "Also, I like a boy. Not, not a girl"

Donghyuck's eyes widen. "Oh"

"And I- And I'll tell you who it is right now," he says, suddenly confident. _It's now or never_. "I like you, Hyuck"

Both of them stay quiet. Donghyuck looks frozen in place, perhaps even shocked. Jeno's about to regret coming clean (and planning moving to Canada) when the other boy laughs and punches him on the shoulder playfully.

"I get it now. You're _my_ simp, then"

Jeno gasps offended. This was certainly not what he'd expected as an answer "I'm not a simp"

Donghyuck loops his arms around him and coos "Aww, don't be angry. I like it, because, well, I like you too dummy."

"Really?" Jeno asks, still a little wary.

Donghyuck looks him in the eyes and pecks his cheek. "Yeah."

Jeno laughs and wraps his arms around Donghyck's waist.

"You're definitely my simp, Jeno-ah"

He rolls his eyes. “Shut up”

**Author's Note:**

> music mood:
> 
> \- blooming day - exo cbx  
> \- 7 days - nct dream  
> \- dumb dumb - red velvet
> 
> pls leave comments if you want!! this was supposed to end in the car part but idk i just kept going.


End file.
